


Appearance

by Sephone_North



Series: Book 1: Judged [6]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: A certain "hallucination" makes an appearance, Anyways, Azula still has symptoms that are not great, Gen, No Beta: We die like mne, That ship is a joke BTW, Water Tribe sneaks in lessons because they're school aged children, Zuko continues to flirt with danger with no thought of himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25538218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephone_North/pseuds/Sephone_North
Summary: Her illness makes an appearance. Hakoda's dad voice makes an appearance. Something that shouldn't be alive makes an appearance. A surprise guest makes an appearance.So many appearances.
Relationships: Azula & Bato, Azula & Hakoda (Avatar), Azula & Iroh, Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda & Zuko, Zuko/Danger
Series: Book 1: Judged [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1844545
Comments: 83
Kudos: 1331





	Appearance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts), [Vathara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vathara/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Embers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3591783) by [Vathara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vathara/pseuds/Vathara). 



> Muffin's fault, but we finally get to blame Vathara a little. 
> 
> The idea of Kiyohime, the first DragonWife is based on two different things. One if Vathara's story Embers, in which dragons have the ability to shapeshift, and Sozin's wife was a dark dragon named Makoto. The second was the story of Tamomo-no-Mae, a kitsune who was a concubine to a couple of emperors and caused a hell of a lot of chaos. Kiyohime was the force behind the throne, helping her husband, The First Fire Lord, to bring all the other warlords under his reign. That's why the line of Fire Lord's, before Sozin's megalomania, was called the line of Kiyohime. 
> 
> More World Building that probably won't come up in the story, but I can't help telling it. It's my favorite thing.

She stared at the ceiling of the cabin, unable to sleep. For the past hour, Azula has been trying to ignore the walls closing in on her. She had already asked Zuko if it was, to which he had worriedly stated no. She couldn’t ask again, partially because he was sleeping, and he would keep looking at her like that. 

She finally gave up, sighing deeply. She rolled out of the bed, doing her best not to jostle Zuko. She grabbed her emergency bag, just in case, and started to leave. She just couldn’t stay in this cabin any longer, or else she was going to set it on fire. And Hakoda had asked her not to do that. Repeatedly. 

She quietly closed the door behind her and stood in the hall. There were only two places that she really could go, the mess hall or the deck. She needed to get away from the walls, so deck it was. 

They had been sailing for about two weeks, just now reaching the Marapaku strait that would take them into Mo Ce Sea. In that time, the chief had made good on his threat about chores. Azula had redeemed her role as stove, much to her annoyance. Zuko had apologized, saying he would’ve done it if he could. She ignored him, simply because she wasn’t sure how to properly respond to that statement. 

Stupid Zu-zu.

She took a deep breath as she stepped onto the deck. They’d also been forced to learn how to swab the deck, though Kutsaa refused to let them participate in the holystoning yet. Zuko had gotten drafted for laundry with the two youngest members of the crew, Panuk and Toklo. It was an easy task that left him sitting for a while, which was why it was assigned. She did get dragged into that, just because she could dry the clothing faster. 

Her favorite work, though Hakoda did hate it, was working with the sails up on the masts. There was something terrifying but freeing about climbing to the top of the masts. It allowed her to practice her acrobatics, and she might not be as good as Ty Lee (to her own annoyance), but she was still impressive. 

The deck wasn’t empty. It never was. The crew ran on three different shifts that switched out every four hours. Each shift was led by one either Hakoda, Bato or Tuluk. The on-shift was considered the shift that was actually in charge of navigation and the sales. The wing-shift was the next shift to go ‘on’. That time during the day was usually used to do chores, like holystoning, swabbing, or laundry. The shift that just finished the on-shift was considered the off-shift, and they went straight to bed after food, generally. On Sunsday, the shifts were shuffled, so that no one was stuck in the same night shifts every day. 

This shift was led by Bato, who was watching from the wheel. He noticed her and waved her up. Azula thought about it, but made her way to him. She looked out as she reached the wheelhouse. Moonlight twinkled on the ocean, making her shiver. Luckily, they were in view of land on both sides, which relieved her anxiety slightly. Not that she had any. 

“Can’t sleep?” He asked, smiling at her. She turned to him and smiled sweetly. 

“Ridiculous, I’m obviously quite comfortable, snoring away.” She let the look drop. “What does it look like?” 

He snorted. “Sorry, I asked.” He straightened from where he was leaning on the railing. “Anything I can do to help?” He offered. “The deck is clear, if you want to practice your forms.” 

She blinked and looked away. She couldn’t understand why people were being so nice to them. Didn’t they understand that they were Fire Nation, and royalty at that? They were enemies. 

She shifted,eyes closed, hands clenching. She could feel that strange sensation, the sure sign that she was losing control again. The splashes of the water sounded too loud, the moonlight was too bright. She wasn’t even under the deck, but she could still feel the walls closing. 

“Princess?” Bato questioned, his voice gentle. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He nodded towards a table that sat near the wheel. “What do you say to learning how to navigate, hmm? Might as well make insomnia useful.” 

She sniffed, but stepped forward, staring at the etchings on the table and nodded. He grinned and started talking. 

“First thing you have to know is we have to change the top when we cross the equator. Stars on the north part of the world are different from the south part.” 

\---

Bato insisted she return to her cabin at the shift change. Navigating by stars had been interesting, and she’d gotten it very quickly. He had praised her for it, but it was very different from her tutors back at the palace. They had always sounded like they were overplaying it, trying to flatter her. He was just to the point with his praise, not harping on it but moving onto the next thing easily. 

She slipped back into the cabin to see Zuko rising from the bed, looking worried. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Go back to sleep, Dum-dum.” 

“Where were you? Are you okay?” He asked, eye wide. Kutsaa had ordered him to take the bandages off for a bit, just to see how the area reacted, so the dark hole in his face seemed almost scary. If it was anyone other than Zuko, it probably would be. 

“I was on deck,” She shrugged and contemplated her answer. A lie would be simple and put the matter to rest, but she was trying to curb the habit. How could she accuse Zuko of being untrustworthy, if she was naturally acting untrustworthy? “I couldn’t sleep, so I went for air.” 

He settled slightly as she climbed into the bed next to him. “Are you okay, though?” He asked softly. 

She sighted. “I had a moment. But Bato taught me how to navigate by the stars, which helped. I guess distractions work?” 

“Distractions?” he asked, then nodded. “Okay, we can probably work with that.” 

“You’re too nice, you idiot.” she muttered. He snorted a laugh and laid back down, yawning widley as he got comfortable. 

She closed her eye and listened carefully, as his breathing evened out. Focusing on it, matching her breaths with his, she felt herself slip off. 

\--- 

Some days were better than others. Some days it was just a vague feeling of paranoia, like the walls were closer or someone was watching her too much. 

Other days, she could hear things. People talking that weren't on the boat. She knew they weren’t on the boat, because she was the only girl, and some of the voices were female. Sometimes, she thought she heard her mother, or Mai, or Ty Lee. 

Three times, she actually saw people that weren’t there. 

The first had been during the first watch, the watch before midnight. She couldn’t sleep again, but didn’t want to climb to the deck. Bato would be up there, and he would know that something was wrong with her, and she just didn’t want that. The sheer thought of someone knowing she was weak made her chest tighten. 

She was tossing back and forth, somehow not bothering Zuko, when she heard a firm voice. “My daughter, how disappointing.” She sat up, eyes wide, and met her father’s eyes as he stood at the door of the cabin. “The ocean should’ve taken you with us.” Something flashed, and his face turned pale and bloated, seaweed hanging from his topknot. 

Her scream echoed through the entire ship. 

The ghost had vanished by the time Bato had kicked in the door, Hakoda close behind. Zuko had woken immediately and procured a knife from somewhere, brandishing it at nothing there. Azula wasn’t sure what was spoken between them as they tried to figure out what happened. She was too busy trying to breathe, trying to keep the fire under her skin. 

The second time had been during her swabbing time. It wasn’t as dramatic as the first, just a movement out of the corner of her eye. When she looked up, she saw her mother, standing on the deck, watching her with sad eyes. Azula had frozen, which Zuko noticed immediately, even though she was on his left side. He looked around, before asking if she was okay. She turned away to look at him, and when she turned back, Ursa was gone. 

The third time was almost peaceful in a way. She’d been using cooking time as extra meditation time, and she was carefully stirring a pot of stew as she breathed evenly. She was somewhat alone, Runalok, her cooking partner, on his way to the cargo hold for a different ingredient. She had felt a change in the air and glanced up, expecting him to have returned. 

What she saw was a surprised Iroh. She froze again, her breathing paused, but the smell of the stew woke her up from the stupor. She carefully started breathing again, keeping an eye on the flame under the pot. She looked back again to see if he was still there, which he was. 

“Niece, this is a great surprise,” He said calmly. He pulled a teacup from his sleeve and reached behind him to pick up a random teapot. She snorted in amusement. If anything could be counted on, it was Uncle with a teapot. 

“Uncle,” she answered quietly, shooting a look towards the door. This was the first time she’d answered the mirages her mind had procured. “I think the surprise here is you.” 

“Oh? Here is my niece, on a Water Tribe ship, cooking a stew.” He sniffed and smiled widely. “A delicious stew, if the smell is to be any indication. Is this not a surprise?” 

She rolled her eyes. “You’re just a living fever dream from my spirit wound. Go away.” 

His smile dropped and his forehead furrowed. “Spirit wound? What happened?” 

She glared at him before returning to her stew, trying to keep her flame even. She’d wanted to ignore the old man, but Hakoda had pointed out that the usual treatment for a natural spirit wound was support and talking it out. Maybe this was her brain trying to provide a situation on it’s own? Why it chose her Uncle was a mystery.

“I spoke to a powerful spirit without protection,” She answered quietly. “I am not spirit-touched. So it hurt me badly. Now I’m having conversations with hallucinations and hearing random voices.” She sighed. “It wouldn’t be too bad if the walls stayed where they were supposed to be.” 

“But you are not in the Spirit World?” Iroh asked, taking a sip. There were worried wrinkles on his forehead, she noticed. He’d never looked like that for her before. 

“No,” she shook her head. “We’re in the Mo Ce Sea. There’s a spirit healer in the North Pole, so don’t get used to this. Why, are you in the Spirit World? Finally lit the final flame, old man?” She shot him a nasty grin. 

“I am not dead, if that’s what you ask.” He replied, his voice that patient tone that always made her want to set the hem of his robe on fire. “I thought you and your brother drowned?” 

Azula let out a bark of a laugh, a cruel sound that echoed in the quiet mess. “No, not yet. I was supposed to, I think. But Zuko wouldn’t let me. Dum-dum,” she muttered. She sighed. “Anyways, we were found by Hakoda and his crew, and now we’re on some spirit quest.” she glanced at him. 

He was shocked, eyes wide. “I see,” he said softly, before sipping his tea cup. It took a moment, before he shook his head and met her eyes. “I am pleased to hear you both are alive. My grief was terrible when I heard you were lost.” 

“Oh, thank you.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you mourned me deeply.” Her tone was sharply sarcastic. 

He opened his mouth, probably to try to dispute her, but footsteps sounded from the hall. She jerked her head to see Runalok return, and when she looked back, Iroh was gone. 

She hadn’t told Zuko about that one yet. There was something unsettling about the whole thing. 

\--- 

“We’re stopping at an abbey up here,” Hakoda said, pointing on the map. “Hopefully, we can purchase a bit more food and refill our water. The nuns are neutral in the war, according to the gossip from the last port, and willing to help anyone.” 

Both kids nodded. Part of their chores included spending part of a shift in his office, learning maps and reading reports. They traded off on helping with budgeting, though Zuko ended up being better with numbers. Azula was better at navigation, her extra lessons with Bato helping immensely. 

“I don’t have to tell you to be polite, I know, but it’s a habit at this point. I feel as if I’m constantly yelling it at Toklo,” Hakoda said, making Azula snort. “We’ll have to hike through some woods to get there, so try to stay close, okay?” 

“Yes, sir,” Zuko replied. 

It took three more hours before they were anchored on the beach near the abbey. There was a river that went north, and thick woodlands on both sides. Azula leapt off the railing of the ship to land into a roll on the beach, to Hakoda’s worried shout. She laughed and hopped to her feet. The feeling of firm land under her feet was amazing. 

Zuko followed at a more sedate pace, trying to help the crewmembers carry the water barrels. He was both too short and still too weak from his ordeal to actually be useful, though she figured they appreciated the offer. 

She was laughing at him when they both felt a shift in the air, like the wind kicked up but nothing moved. Their heads snapped up, eyes narrowing as they scanned the treeline. No one else had reacted, which worried her. If it was just her, then it was just another hallucination thing. But Zuko had looked too, which maybe meant the strange feeling was something else. She hoped it wasn’t a spirit. 

Zuko began walking towards the treeline, squinting sharply. She followed him, shooting Hakoda a worried glance. The Chief immediately came over, Bato following. “What’s wrong kids?” 

“I don’t know, “she answered truthfully, when Zuko didn’t. He was too focused, his eye scanning over the forest. “There’s something there though.” 

“What kind of something?” Bato questioned, his hand lowering to a knife at his waist. 

“Again, I don’t know,” she shot back, getting frustrated with her own ignorance. He glanced down at her and lifted his hand to place on her shoulder. She flinched slightly, but froze when she realized that it was supposed to be some sort of comforting gesture. 

“Fair enough,” he said amused, though his eyes looked tight. SHe’d noticed that they all got a similar look to their faces when Zuko and her tried to keep from getting smacked. 

“It’s something big. Adn warm,” Zuko said, almost like he was in a dream. He stepped right up to where the trees started and held up a hand. “And it’s  _ breathing _ .” He murmured. 

Before the others could move, one of the bushes in front of him moved. The trees shifted slightly, and suddenly, a giant green scaled head moved closer to her brother. Burning golden eyes the size of her head blinked open. A mouth large enough to swallow Zuko in one bite opened enough to breathe out smoke. 

“A dragon,” She and Zuko both hissed out, though in completely different tones. He was full of awe and amazement. She was filled with fear and anger. 

If this overgrown burnt lizard-snake tried to attack him, she was going to be earning her title of Dragon at nine. 

The dragon looked at her, and it's heavy gaze weighed on her. There was a moment where it felt that she  _ knew _ that this dragon wasn’t threatening them, but it needed something from there. She shifted closer, not liking being so far away while in the gaze of a giant creature. 

“Zuko, walk back slowly,” Hakoda cautioned, and suddenly, she remembered they were not alone. She shook her head sharply and looked at him. He was pale, especially for him. 

“I don’t think it means harm,” She said quietly, drawing both Hakoda’s and Bato’s attention. “I think we’re just going to have to let it have it’s say.” 

“It’s an animal,” Bato muttered. “What could it say?” 

“In old stories, it was said that dragons were Agni’s first children,” Zuko said, his eyes never leaving the dragon. “One of the tales says that the first Fire Lord married Agni’s granddaughter, a dragon turned human named Kiyohime.” 

“Dragons are supposed to be very intelligent,” Azula translated, trying not to roll her eyes at her brother’s apparent dorkiness. She never realized how much he’d spent in the library. 

Conversation stopped as the dragon moved closer, pressing its nose to Zuko’s chest. No one twitched, though Azula’s heart rate jacked up to hyperdrive. She gulped, hands shaking slightly. 

THe dragon moved back a little, and then breathed over him. The air ruffled his hair and he tilted his head back, eyes sliding closed. The dragon pressed his nose to Zuko’s forehead, and her brother gasped. 

They stood there for a moment, before the dragon stepped back. It slipped back into the forest, stopping right at the edge. It slid something forward, two round things digging furrows in the sands. It dipped it’s head once more, and then melted into the trees. The air shifted again, feeling like it had when they first landed. 

Azula let out a breath before stomping to her brother and shoving him hard. Unprepared, he stumbled and fell to the ground, shouting on the way. “AZULA!” He yelled at her. 

“ME! You’re the idiot who didn’t move at the giant dragon!” She shouted. “If it decided to attack, what were you going to do? YOU CAN’T FIREBEND, YOU IDIOT!” 

“That’s no-” He scrambled to his feet, glaring. “It wasn’t going to hurt me!” 

“You didn’t know that!” She threw her hands up in the air, sparks fluttering around her. “Did you forget that we’re the great-grandchildren of Sozin! If dragons are smart, don’t you think they’d want revenge on the full line?”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Hakoda stepped between them, hands up. “Both of you, take a breath.” They obeyed out of habit more than actually wanting to calm down. Anytime a master told you to take a breath during firebending, you breathed. It usually kept you from burning the grounds down. 

The chief turned to Zuko. “Azula does have a point. It was reckless to approach without a weapon or backup. Anything could’ve happened, and we wouldn’t have been able to help. You don’t have to do things along.” 

Zuko muttered something and kicked the ground sullenly. “What?” Hakoda asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I said, I don’t have any weapons.” 

“You have a knife,” Bato pointed out dryly, slowly making his way to the things the dragon had pushed forward. 

“That’s- wait, no I don’t” He choked out, and thus showing why he couldn't be trusted to lie. Azula rolled her eyes. 

“It’s under his pillow,” she said, sneering at her brother. He snarled back. 

“Enough,” His voice had enough steel to make both siblings straighten and go silent. “Zuko, if you think you would like to add weapons training to your chores, we can work with that. However, that doesn’t make the dragon situation okay. You should have waited, understood?” 

“Yes, sir.” Zuko said, hanging his head. 

Hakoda turned to Azula, and she twitched in surprise. “Sunshine, I understand your worry, but that doesn’t mean you get to shove your brother. And try not to shout any strategic weakness out to the world on an unknown beach, please.” 

She stared at him, before nodding. This was a first. Usually, when Zuko and her got into an argument, it was only Zuko that was in trouble. Not her. She blinked down at the ground, realizing that she wanted to cry. How pathetic was she? 

“I’m sorry, La-la,” Zuko said, stepping towards her. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

She shot him a glare, opening her mouth to snarl at him. He flinched back a little, eye wide. She clenched her hands and turned away, stomping over towards Bato and trying to take deep breaths. She didn’t catch the adults trading looks. 

“Do you know what these are?” Bato asked. He pointed down to two round stones on the ground. They were both about the size of a helmet, oval shaped, with ridges almost like scales all over them. One was pitch black, the other blue. She reached out and touched the blue one and blinked. 

“Is this warm to you?” She asked, the rage gripping her abating slightly. The stone was warm against her hand, as if it had sat in the sun the entire afternoon. Something inside her loosened. The anger she felt melted like butter in a hot pot. “Oh,” she breathed out softly. 

“They’re eggs,” Zuko said over her shoulder. He carefully picked up the other egg, pulling it to his chest. “Dragon eggs,” he looked over at Hakoda. “The dragon told me that they were meant for us.” He tightened his grips. “We’re keeping them,” He said, trying to sound demanding, but only sounding like a child. Azula looked up at him. 

“For both of us?” she asked quietly. “Really?” 

“Yeah,” He nodded beightly. 

“Kids, we live on a wooden boat right now, remember?” Bato pointed out, looking at Hakoda. “This is going to be the polar kitten all over again, isn’t it?” 

“That was Kya’s fault, not mine,” Hakoda shot back. “And when have you ever been able to say no to Katara’s begging eyes?” 

“As the fun uncle, that’s not my job,” Bato grinned. 

Hakoda decided to ignore his friend. “Zuko, how about we get to the abbey and then we can discuss it over some food, deal?” 

The prince nodded brightly, and Azula carefully picked up her egg. The warmth spread up her arms and into her chest. She cradled it close and breathed over it. 

“You’re never getting that away from her now,” She heard Bato mutter to Hakoda, amused. 

\---

It took a few hours until they were finally seated around a table in the Abbey. Zuko had been helping as much as he could with the dragon eggs still in his hands. Azula, at least, had had the forethought to place the dragon into her emergency bag. She still had it carefully tucked against her, leaving her with only one hand, but it was better than him. 

Her bag was in her lap, the warmth of the egg somehow bleeding through the canvas. Zuko was eating with one hand while the other was wrapped around his, holding it to his belly. 

“Alright, son, what exactly did the dragon tell you?” Hakoda asked as they finished the meal and were settled. 

“It was amazing,” He said brightly. “It was an entire story in a moment, just right in my mind.” 

“What mind?” Azula muttered under her breath, petting her egg through the bag. Zuko shot her a dirty look, but didn’t reply. Hakoda let out a sigh while Bato coughed in his hand. 

Zuko rolled his eyes, but turned back to the adults. “Anyways, the dragon’s name was Enenra. The eggs weren’t theirs, but rather from one of their cousins. The cousin died during the hunts.” 

“The hunts?” Hakoda interrupted, raising an eyebrow. 

Both of the fire siblings traded a look, and Azula shifted uncomfortable. “Fire Lord Sozin issued a challenge to the nation. If any person killed a dragon, they would be honored by the throne and granted the title of Dragon.” She looked down at the bag in her lap. “Uncle Iroh is said to have killed the last two dragons, and that’s why he’s the Dragon of the West.” 

The Water Tribe men looked horrified. Azula shrugged, her eyes narrowing, “It’s just another thing that Fire Nation killed, right?” She growled. 

“We don’t blame you two, Sunshine,” Hakoda said softly. “Our tribe doesn’t hunt for sport, so it doesn’t make sense to us.” 

Zuko coughed and looked like he was about to cry. “I would say it’s one of the worst things he’s ever done, but it’s Fire Lord Sozin,” He muttered. The crimes of that particular man hung heavy over the world. “But Sozin’s crimes have other far-reaching consequences.” 

“Of course it did,” Azula muttered, curling up around her egg, knees pressed against the edge of the table, manners be damned. 

“It seems that the Great Spirit Fujin became enraged after the death of the airbenders. They didn’t blame Sozin, but rather Agni himself. However, Fujin couldn’t touch the Fire Lord or the Fire Nation itself, though I don’t know why. So they cursed the dragons.” Zuko wiped tears from his cheek. Azula ignored him. 

“No eggs can hatch, until airbending returns,” Zuko murmured. “The dragons didn’t do anything, and they were ruined. As Sozin declared hunting season, they had to go into hiding. That’s why dragons are nearly extinct.” 

“So, we have to find airbenders, on top of dealing with a war, getting you on the throne, and finding all of these spirit chosen?” Azula asked, her voice caustic. “Sure, why not? Would they like us to extinguish the volcanoes on Caldera as well?” 

“Azula,” Hakoda said. He rubbed his eyes. “This is going to be hard, I’m not going to lie to you, but let’s focus on one thing at a time. We need to get to the North Pole to find a healer. After that, we will move to the next thing. I’m sure there will be some clue there on what to focus on, okay. It’s going to be okay.” 

Azula didn’t have anything to say about that, having been lied to by adults before. So she just breathed out, focusing on the soft warmth in her hands. 


End file.
